An integrated circuit contains various semiconductor devices and a plurality of conducting metal paths that provide electrical power to the semiconductor devices and allow these semiconductor devices to share and exchange information. Within the integrated circuit, metal layers are stacked on top of one another using intermetal or interlayer dielectric layers that insulate the metal layers from each other. Normally, each metal layer must form an electrical contact to at least one additional metal layer. Such electrical contact is achieved by etching a hole (i.e., a via) in the interlayer dielectric that separates the metal layers, and filling the resulting via with a metal to create an interconnect. A “via” normally refers to any recessed feature such as a hole, line or other similar feature formed within a dielectric layer that, when filled with metal, provides an electrical connection through the dielectric layer to a conductive layer underlying the dielectric layer. Similarly, recessed features connecting two or more vias are normally referred to as trenches.
The use of copper (Cu) metal in multilayer metallization schemes for manufacturing integrated circuits has created several problems that require solutions. For example, high mobility of Cu atoms in dielectric materials and Si can result in migration of Cu atoms into those materials, thereby forming electrical defects that can destroy an integrated circuit. Therefore, Cu metal layers, Cu filled trenches, and Cu filled vias are normally encapsulated with a barrier layer to prevent Cu atoms from diffusing into the dielectric materials. Barrier layers are normally deposited on trench and via sidewalls and bottoms prior to Cu deposition, and may include materials that are preferably non-reactive and immiscible in Cu, provide good adhesion to the dielectrics materials and can offer low electrical resistivity.
The electrical current density in an integrated circuit's interconnects significantly increases for each successive technology node. Because electromigration (EM) and stress migration (SM) lifetimes are inversely proportional to current density, EM and SM have fast become critical challenges. EM lifetime in Cu dual damascene interconnect structures is strongly dependent on atomic Cu transport at the interfaces of bulk Cu and surrounding materials (e.g., Cu capping layer) which is directly correlated to adhesion at these interfaces. New capping materials that provide better adhesion and better EM lifetime have been studied extensively. For example, a dielectric capping layer (e.g., SiN) may be replaced with a metal-containing capping layer, e.g., CoWP selectively deposited on bulk Cu using an electroless plating technique. The interface of CoWP and bulk Cu has superior adhesion strength that yields longer EM lifetime. However, maintaining acceptable deposition selectivity on bulk Cu, especially for tight pitch Cu wiring, and maintaining good film uniformity, has affected acceptance of this complex process.
Therefore, new methods are required for depositing metal layers that provide good adhesion to Cu and improved EM and SM properties of bulk Cu. In particular, these methods should provide good selectivity for metal deposition on metal surfaces compared to dielectric surfaces.